Sale Prices and Shelf Prices
The prices in the band are sale prices. Every week the USDA collects the tri tip prices grocery stores advertise as a sale and averages them by region and grade. They are the low end of the market: on a normal day the same roast often costs more, and at premium or city stores it can cost close to double.
Tri tip goes on sale in three grades most weeks. Store brand is ungraded supermarket beef. USDA Choice is the graded roast most stores put on sale. Angus or branded covers Certified Angus Beef and programs like it. USDA Prime rarely goes on sale; in a week it does, it shows in the band. What each grade means for the meat is in USDA Grades.
A rule of thumb: Choice at or under this week’s sale price is a good buy, and well under it is a steal. Choice on the shelf commonly runs around $14 a pound or more, and Prime or branded Angus higher still.
When we shop, we log the shelf price we see. The newest check from the last 60 days shows in the band with the store and the date, and once there are three or more the chart marks them as dots beside the sale line.
Where to Buy It
Our first pick is a local butcher. A good counter cuts the size you want, trims it your way and tells you where the beef came from, and your money stays with a local business. The Locator maps butcher counters and ranches that sell direct across California.
On price alone, Costco and Smart & Final set the bar in California, and most stores won’t beat them off sale. Costco sells Choice and often Prime in multi-packs, peeled (see Trimmed or Fat Cap On below). The one reliable way to beat both is a supermarket sale week, so that’s the week to stock up.
Not sure how much to buy? The serving calculator turns a head count into pounds and roasts.
Where the Numbers Come From
Every week the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service publishes the National Retail Report for Beef, a record of the beef prices supermarkets advertise as a sale that week. Tri tip is a standing line, broken out by region and grade. For the band we read the Southwest region rows (Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah) and weight them by store count. For the trend we use the national average from every weekly report since 2018: 408 weeks so far.
In September 2024 the USDA moved the report to a new system and split tri tip into roast and steak lines, each regular or value. Since then our series is the store-weighted average of those lines. The old and new formats sit within about 20 cents of each other at the changeover, so the trend reads as one line.
Trimmed or Fat Cap On
Tri tip sells either peeled or with the fat cap on, and you pay for the cap by the pound. A fat-cap-on roast costs a little more for the meat you end up cooking, because some of that weight gets trimmed off. Costco’s tri tip comes peeled, so its per-pound price buys meat with no trim waste; an untrimmed roast can look cheaper per pound and cost about the same once you trim it. Most pitmasters want at least a quarter inch of cap left on to shield the meat from the fire, so ask your butcher, and count the trim when you compare a peeled price with an untrimmed one.
What the Numbers Leave Out
The USDA pools store ads and never names a store, so we can show the price, not the chain. The Southwest region is the smallest area the report publishes, so the band covers four states, not California alone. The report comes out once a week and grocery sale weeks start on different days, many on Wednesday, so a sale may have ended by the time you read this. The national trend is a separate, broader series than the band.
Sources
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service. National Retail Report: Beef (Weekly Retail Beef Feature Activity). Washington, DC: USDA AMS Livestock, Poultry, and Grain Market News.
Series through November 6, 2026, compiled from the report archives (2018 to 2024, 2024 to 2025 and 2025 on). Band figures from the current weekly report.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does tri tip cost per pound in California?
On sale for the week ending November 12, 2026, the USDA’s Southwest region puts tri tip at about $5.99 a pound for Choice, $7.58 for store brand and $12.99 for Angus or branded, a store-weighted average near $7.67. The national average is about $8.09. Shelf prices run higher, often around $14 a pound or more.
Is tri tip getting more expensive?
Nationally, the average sale price went from about $5.26 a pound in 2019, the first full year of data, to about $8.39 in 2026, up 60%. The chart above shows the climb week by week.
When is tri tip cheapest?
Late fall and winter. In the USDA’s weekly sale prices since late 2018, tri tip has run cheapest from November through February, about 7 percent under the year’s average, and highest in June and July, even though more stores put it on sale in grilling season.
Where is the best place to buy tri tip?
For everyday price, Costco and Smart & Final are usually the two to beat in California; most other stores and butcher counters won’t undercut them off sale. A local butcher is still our pick for the meat itself: a custom cut and trim, the fat cap left on if you ask (some counters won’t), and your money stays local. The Locator maps butcher counters across California.
How much is tri tip at Costco?
Costco doesn’t report to the USDA and its prices vary by warehouse, so there’s no single published figure. As a rough benchmark, Choice at a warehouse club usually runs in the low to mid teens a pound. Costco’s tri tip usually comes peeled, so the price buys meat with no trim waste. The California prices on this page (about $5.99 a pound for Choice this week) are supermarket sale prices, a different number from a club’s everyday price.
What is a good price for tri tip?
At or below this week’s sale price for Choice is a solid deal, and well under it is a steal. Everyday prices run higher, commonly around $14 a pound or more, with Prime or branded Angus higher still. Watch the late fall and winter sales for the lowest prices.
Is tri tip expensive compared to other cuts?
No. Tri tip is a value cut, far cheaper per pound than ribeye or filet. See how it compares in tri tip vs brisket and tri tip vs picanha.